For decades, residents of Montego Bay and neighbouring parishes who traverse the congested city in the west have often faced traffic gridlocks entering and exiting, in a bid to access the highways.

This has left many expressing their frustration and more recently, the calls for the construction of the Montego Bay bypass have been echoing louder and more frequently.

But a change is on the horizon, with plans for the construction of the Montego Bay Bypass slated to commence by 2021.

“This is another toll road that will be built by the Jamaican government. The contract has already been signed. We anticipate that TransJamaican Highway (TJH), being a publicly listed company, will pursue an opportunity to own and operate the Montego Bay by-pass, as they have with the Mandela Highway to May Pen by-pass,” said Dwight Jackson, Origination and Structuring Manager at the National Commercial Bank Capital Markets (NCBCM), which was the lead broker for the TJH initial IPO, between February 17 and March 2.

“The TransJamaican Highway has a lot of potential and the Montego Bay By-pass is one such potential,” Jackson added.

The Montego Bay bypass will be a 15 kilometre toll road stretching from the Rose Hall main road, in the vicinity of the Blue Diamond Shopping Centre onto the Bogue Highway.

Ivan Anderson, managing director at the National Road Operating Construction Company (NROCC), said the project is estimated to cost US$220 million and will be fully funded by the Jamaican government.
Anderson said expectations are that the project should start towards the latter part of 2021. Construction is expected to last for approximately three years.

“We are now acquiring lands in the different areas. There will be some relocation of residents in the Salt Spring area.”

VISUAL OUTLINE
Giving a visual outline of the route, Anderson explained: “It will traverse south into the hills of Salt Spring; passes behind Cornwall Court and the Green Pond High School. It will then wrap around in the Irwin and Porto Bello communities; travels into Fairfield and goes by the Temple Gallery main road in the vicinity of Appliance Traders in Bogue. It will loop around the sewerage ponds and ends on the Howard Cooke Boulevard.

This means that persons travelling from Montego Bay towards Ocho Rios and vice versa, will no longer have to drive through the town centre when the toll road completes,” Anderson emphasized.
The project will also include the Long Hill by-pass, which will join onto the Montego Bay by pass, south of the Temple Gallery road.
It will start in the vicinity of the Reading main road ( along Gore Developments) and will travel through Anchovy down into Montpellier.
This means that motorists will no longer have to drive along the winding, narrow Long Hill road.

Said Anderson: “Long Hill is a steep, winding, narrow road and everybody in Montego Bay knows that. Oftentimes whenever there is an accident along that road, everything is backed up for miles and for hours. The idea, therefore, is to construct a world-class by-pass, which meets US standards.”

Funding for this project will come from the US$220 million earmarked for the Montego Bay by pass.

Anderson outlined that an overpass road will be built at the intersection of the Temple Gallery and the Bogue main roads. Overpass roads will also be constructed at the intersections of the Fairfield and Adelphi main roads.

“There will also be a new interchange in the vicinity of the Cornwall Courts Housing Scheme and the Green Pond High School, as well as another in the Salt Spring area,” noted Anderson.

And in seeking to allay doubts or preconceptions, Anderson has assured that should there be a change of government at any time before or during the construction of the Montego Bay by pass, such a move would not likely affect the project, as the contract has already been signed off.

IPO
Asked if the government would consider opening an initial public offering (IPO) when this project is complete, Anderson responded: “Maybe in the near future. We may have a discussion and should the government decide on that, TransJamaican Highway may acquire that asset to own and operate.”

Anderson said the decision as to whether the TJH applies to own and operate the Montego Bay by-pass will be one that is made by the shareholders of TJH. He said that the TJH is one of only two companies in Jamaica managing road concessions, which would give TJH a ‘leg up.’ In contrast to the May Pen to Williamsfield toll road, TJH will not have any first rights of refusal in relation to the Montego Bay By-pass.

The TJH IPO was set at J$1.41 or US$0.01, which raised over J$14.1 billion by March 2. Against this background, Anderson was asked how attractive he reckons an IPO for the Montego Bay bypass could likely be, should the government decide to offer such.

He responded: “The decision will be assessed based on traffic studies done closer to the time of opening in 2023/2024.”

said it closed the restaurant when it found out about the notice
McDonald’s in China has apologized after a branch in the industrial city of Guangzhou barred black people from entering.

A video shared on social media showed a notice that read: “We’ve been informed that from now on black people are not allowed to enter the restaurant.”

McDonald’s said that when it found out about the notice it temporarily closed the restaurant.

Tensions have been running high between Africans and local people in the city.

Last week, hundreds of Africans in Guangzhou were evicted from hotels and apartments after online rumours that coronavirus was spreading among African people, community leaders told the BBC.
Guangzhou is a hub for African traders buying and selling goods and is home to one of China’s largest African communities.

The Guangdong provincial government has responded to concerns about discrimination by calling China and Africa good friends, partners and brothers.

It said it attached “great importance to some African countries’ concerns and is working promptly to improve” its way of operating.
McDonald’s also responded, saying the ban on black people was “not representative of our inclusive values”.

“Immediately upon learning of an unauthorised communication to our guests at a restaurant in Guangzhou, we immediately removed the communication and temporarily closed the restaurant.”

The restaurant added that it had conducted “diversity and inclusion” training in the branch.

Sources: BBC News, Guyana Chronicle, Barbados Nation

The Jamaica Red Cross (JRC) recently received a major donation from the Pan-Caribbean Sugar Company (PCSC) Limited to aid in its response to COVID-19.

PCSC has donated three (3) metric tonnes of sugar to the JRC to be included in the food packages that the humanitarian organization will distribute to vulnerable persons across Jamaica.
The presentation was done at PCSC Frome Sugar Factory on Friday, April 3, 2020 by Madam Liu Chaoyu, Chief Executive Officer of Pan-Caribbean Sugar Company Limited to Maceo Sibbles, Director of JRC’s Westmoreland Branch.

In a statement by PCSC, the company noted that although it is suffering from financial constraints, it has joined in the fight against COVID-19 by not just donating sugar to the local Red Cross for distribution to persons with low incomes, but also by raising donations through The Association of Chinese Enterprises in Jamaica (ACEJ) to purchase personal protective equipment from China for the Ministry of Health and Wellness.

During the presentation, Mr. Sibbles extended appreciation to PCSC for the support that the company has always extended to the parish of Westmoreland. He noted that their most recent donation will go a far way in reaching vulnerable persons not just within the parish but also throughout the island, during this challenging time.

PCSC is a Chinse invested and owned company, established in 2011 and is mainly engaged in sugar cane cultivation and sugar production. Over the years, the company has contributed to the local economy by employing a large number of local persons and has also actively carried out many corporate social responsibility programmes in their surrounding communities.

As Jamaica continues its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, the MInistry of Health and Wellness yesterday reported that 32 new COVID-19 cases have been confirmed, bringing the total number of cases locally to 105.
A release from the MOH revealed that the new confirmed cases were recorded over a 24-hour period, and comprise five males and 27 females, who range in age from 19 to 70 years old. It was additionally highlighted that all the cases are from St Catherine, and Kingston and St Andrew.

They bring to 34 the number of cases under investigation. Of the prior and remaining 71 confirmed cases:
• Thirty-one (31) are imported;
• Thirty-four (34) are contacts of a confirmed case; and
• Six (6) are local transmission (not epi linked).

ALORICA INTERVENTION
Alorica, the Portmore, St. Catherine-based call centre which recently featured as having one of the newer COVID-19 patients, was inspected by the Ministry of Health, with the following findings observed:

1. 258 individuals have been interviewed and sampled.
2. 65 tests are now completed.
3. 33 samples have come back positive.
   A senior team from the Ministry visited the entity at the weekend, and it has since been closed.
   Arrangements are now being made for the isolation of the newly confirmed cases.
   The Ministry is also working diligently to identify each of their contacts for testing, while investigations continue to identify other possible exposed persons.
   
4. RECOVERY, QUARANTINE, ISOLATION
   Currently:
   • Twenty (20) persons have recovered;
   • Twenty (20) persons are in quarantine; and
   • Sixty-five (65) are in isolation.
   OVERALL TESTING
   We have now tested 1,290 samples, including:
   • the 105 confirmed positives; and
   • 1,185 negatives.
   
5. PARISH BREAKDOWN
   St. Catherine – 36 with one death
   Kingston & St. Andrew – 21
   Clarendon – 14, with one death, 79-y/o male
   Manchester – 9
   St. Ann – 7
   Portland – 5
   St. James – 5
   St. Elizabeth – 5
   Westmoreland – 2 with one death 41y/0 male
   St. Mary – 1
   Hanover – 0, Trelawny – 0, St Thomas – 0
   
6. MOBILE TESTING
   As has been previously announced, Jamaica is to expand its testing for COVID-19. As part of those expanded testing efforts, the Ministry will, beginning this Friday (April 17, 2020), begin mobile testing for COVID-19 and in two health regions (the Southeast Regional Health Authority/SERHA and the Northeast Regional Health Authority/NERHA).
8. The actions to contain the spread of COVID-19 and to ensure the best possible health outcomes for infected persons requires all our best efforts.
10. Citizens are therefore encouraged to adhere to the various advisories from the Ministry of Health and Wellness, including prevention tips and stipulations on curfew, community quarantine as well as self-reporting.